Kate

The cast did well, the characters were entertaining, villains not that bad, production value was obviously high... so why didn't it work out? Not enough brain power was used in writing the plot.

Fantasy set in modern times should explore the unexplained, but never go against what we actually know and contradict the reality. When they dropped the "I got resurrected in a new body, but my DNA stayed the same" I was extremely close to dropping it again. Honestly, I did not think it could go any more illogical.

Sadly, the lack of logic was a prominent part of the plot. Characters, depending on the given situation, turned either smart or dumb. The show used exactly the same plot lines over and over again. How many times can I watch Hee Jin's mom being kidnapped? Or Se Yun being in the same type of danger?

The ridiculousness of the script made it entertaining though. There is one secret child, and then there is another... and third. Cross-dressing Cha Min DEAD BODY and putting a wig on it, so the killer can bring him back to life... And the weird plot twist in the end with god (?) showing up, just to give us that sweet forced happy ending.

I'm sorry, but when Cha Min started disappearing Thanos style I laughed like crazy. How nice of the Abyss to start from the bottom to the top, so he had these few seconds to say goodbye. The rules of Abyss make no sense; that's the conclusion.

Also, at some point I wanted to (┛ಠ_ಠ)┛彡┻━┻ after hearing all the "Se Yun is not as pretty now, she looks average" jokes and comments. It was laughable with how beautiful Park Bo Young is.

So, did I like anything? Yes. I'd say the cast did an amazing job portraying the characters and the chemistry between the leads was truly great. The thing that caught my attention was how natural the skinship was.

Overall, I kind of enjoyed the experience of watching, simply because my expectations were as low as possible. My forehead hurts from facepalming.

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Setting that was impossible to execute well.

I want to start with the disclaimer that it's a completely personal and subjective review. For some strange reason the first two episodes just made me feel extremely uncomfortable and I cannot even explain why, but I was barely able to finish them.

My biggest problem was the set up for the two main characters which led to a questionable power difference that needs good writing and enough screen time to execute well. We didn't have it here. With that, the dynamics between Shi On and Hong Seok felt off. Everything was rushed and I could not stop myself from saying: this would never ever happen in reality. This is just ridiculous.

Many actions done by the characters were there simply as a lead up for cute moments and interactions or for the plot to progress, but from a logical standpoint, they should not exist.

I would be lying if I said I didn't like anything about the show. Some scenes were truly adorable and I found the chemistry between the two main actors quite nice. Sadly, all of that was surrounded by too fast of a pace with not enough content to make it make sense. The plot wasn't even fast-forwarded to ridiculous speed. We literally jumped through time and space and plot points.

The character that made the least sense to me was Cha Soo Ryeon. She flip-flopped and did some massive 180s here and there, and nothing was organic, cohesive and fitting the story.

The acting was nice. Fanny enough, my favorite performance award goes to Lex, who played Jung Hoon - Shi On's dance classmate. The few scenes he had, he has done justice to. I also enjoyed Chu Young Woo's performance in the last episode.

Overall, it's just a nonsensical show. The performances were nice, the editing was ok, but the writing and directing just left a lot to be desired. If you watch it for the two main leads and their fluffy scenes you will most likely enjoy it, but if you look for anything that has a good structure of the story and characters - this will fail your expectations.

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(┛ಠ_ಠ)┛彡┻━┻

I think it’s fair to say I felt insulted while watching, for a few different reasons. First episode I did love and it made me extremely excited, but it went downhill from there. At first I kind of enjoyed it as a hate watch, but later it was just too boring, repetitive and not crazy enough to laugh about. Before you read the review know, that there are paragraphs talking about sexual harassment and rape (TW).

First of all, the focus on sex and impotence and magic potions that will make male slaves’ lower parts useless was just weird. The number of times it was mentioned and presented as the worst type of fate one can deal with… priorities I guess. I’d say, being tortured for years would be worse. They also had a potion that made Chang Ah horny, and it was used as a torture… yeah.

The lack of strong villains was also disappointing. What were the main characters exactly fighting against? More often than not, the bad guys and ladies had valid points. And what exactly were the motivations of the villains? My favorite part was how pressed was Cha Luo about not being able to do the do with her slave man. Like damn, the lady had some major problems.

The worst part of the show was for sure the female lead - Wan Mei. She had no solid personality nor brain. After the first episode I was hoping to see a physically weak, but strong willed and smart character slowly grow, take revenge on the bad people and fight for the good. I wasn't even hoping for an interesting gray character, because I knew this ain’t happening. What I’ve got was a dumb girl who had massive problems with understanding the information other tell her. How many times she was told it’s an assassin organization - and yet she was like “I ain’t killin anyone”. SHE WAS TRAINING TO BE ASSASSIN!

How many times she was told and shown what happens when you disobey the orders, and yet she was like: nah, ain’t doing that. And then she was surprised when the consequences hit her. She was smart when the plot needed it, brainless when it was convenient. She was weak at times, and really good at fighting at other times. I mean, when her targets literally commit suicide to help her, because she is not capable of killing them, it tells you what type of show it is. Truth to be told, FL has no real personality. She is what the scene needs her to be: she is smart AND dumb, she is cunning AND naive... I am confident, this show would be so much better without her.

The love that makes no sense. I’m still trying to figure out why both the main lead and second lead fell for Wan Mei. Fair enough, let's say Chang Ah did spend enough time with her for some kind of affection to bloom. Gong Zi tho literally started to like her because she was pretty and the first person he saw after gaining his sight back. His obsession over her never made sense. Him willing to sacrifice so much to keep her alive, even his own life? Bish why? He was willing to eat a soup made of a maid’s cooked face to hide the fact he is not blind anymore, but a few scenes later he just tells Wan Mei like it’s not important. His IQ dropped so much whenever Wan Mei was close. To be honest, she lowered the IQ of everyone that was close to her - that’s the true power she had.

Another aspect that at some point just started to make me angry was how fake woke this show is. They show this society where the females are the masters, and men are the slaves. Women are making the decisions and have all the power, and the guys are just supposed to serve them - the 180 to the usual historical styled shows, where the women are the voiceless ones. This ain’t good though. This is not empowering at all. Not to mention, with all the women over men rhetoric, male characters were still far superior and better written than female ones.

Female villain going crazy because she can’t have sex with the dude? Playing into women being unstable, unreasonable and overemotional I guess. The fact they literally said the scar on Wan Mei’s face is THE WORST thing that could happen to her was laughable. Yes, it’s worse than her being tortured for days, worse than her possibly dying, worse than her being almost raped twice. Or how Chang Ah was more concerned about that small cut on her face than the fact SHE WAS MUTE! Love the message here: a beautiful woman without any scars is more valuable than one who can speak. Because beauty is what’s important.

And then there is also the whole love for sexual assault. The show opens with Wan Mei being sold to a brothel and almost raped. This did not bother me that much. It was supposed to be tragic, showing how weak and vulnerable she is at the moment. Could they do without it? Yes. But it still made sense plot wise. The thing that annoyed me was the fact she was also almost sexually assaulted by Gong Zi - and people still shipped them. There were comments saying he just loved her so much he could not stop himself. Some even said it was hot. Don't know what is more gross, that scene or people’s reaction to it.

Then, there is a whole sub plot of a CHILD being sold to a brothel and being raped god knows how many times to the point of stopping her mental development. Years later, after being saved, she is gang raped AGAIN, while mentally being a 11 years old child. I guess the writers wanted to be dramatic and edgy. So basically, for 2 years assholes took her virgin blood coz it has some awesome "magical" youth qualities. And when she was oLd eNoUgH (13), they started to rape her. And now at the age 19, after all that trauma, she gets raped again. And literally none of this, and definitely to that extent, was necessary plot wise.

So… does this drama have any good points? Yes. The acting was truly nice - I am impressed with Li Yi Tong for delivering a good performance even though the character she was playing was poorly written and made little sense. Another good aspect was the soundtrack. A Lifetime Waiting For You easily became one of my favorite OSTs. Last thing worth mentioning is - the show is just really pretty. I took almost 300 screenshots.

Overall, I would use it to torture people.

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Why do we still have child-like leads?

Three completely different dudes randomly at the same time decided to pursue a vanilla child-like lead, after simping from him without him knowing for months/years. What even?

Yoo Do Ha is honestly poorly written. There is a massive difference between being innocent/shy and being child-like. I have no idea why some writers are obsessed with making leads (be it male leads in BLs or female leads in romance dramas) act so much like a clueless toddlers with empty big eyes stare and not 0.000000001% of assertiveness in behavior. It just makes the drama unrealistic.

I am sure there are men who like this type of a partner - there is a type for everyone. But I also refuse to believe there are so many people into this type of behavior to create a love square out of it.

Not that the suitors were any better. All 3 were frustrating for just "keeping their crush a secret" and never doing shit to get Do Ha. Why the stalker behavior?

Not that the drama was tragically bad, but it was also not really good. The first half was better, but only because we did not yet know how shallow all the characters and the plot was - I was still excited to find out more. There was no “more”.

Acting wise we had some good, decent and bad examples. Cha Se Jin easily delivered the best performance. Both Cha Yu Hyun and Lee Do Han were decent in the roles, but Jung Su Bin - my guy for sure has better presence and financial expressions on stage. Maybe the issue was the writing of Do Ha, but the whole characters felt extremely… empty.

Overall, kind of waste of time, kind of decent for a background watch. I wanted to give it 6.5, but the last two episodes had too many weird, random and dumb moments for me.

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Simplicity with a twist that will keep you engaged.

Technically speaking it’s a really simple story with a simplistic presentation of complex issues, and yet it works so well and it does not feel boring thanks to the refreshing and fun characters.

What you think you’ll get is a shy nerd who does not care for romance and a confident playboy who will try to win him over. What you get is a confident and at times sassy nerd and socially awkward “playboy” psycho who cannot say no. These two gave me some of the most enjoyable and unexpected chemistry.

Personally I loved Kim Jin Woo from the start, but Jung Ki Sub is a sneaky one, slowly making me fall for the character more and more. There was something irresistible about this character, it does not matter how annoying he might have felt, you kind of craved more of his screen time.

While I understand the appeal of the supporting couple (who does not like some angst in their lives?), I was not quite sold on their journey. I really like Balgeum, I did not care much about In Ho. That said, even if I was not that into them, the couple did deliver one of my favorite scenes in the whole show.

Plot wise - simple is the best. Were the issues at times presented in a comically simple way? Yes. The message was clear though, the story was not confusing and all the aspects got a closure. With short dramas like that, I could not ask for more. I appreciate the introduction of the topics like unintentional neglect, trying to please people and losing yourself in the process, being scared of your own feelings/not understanding your own feelings. The shame one can feel about their economic situation and how it can affect all aspects of a person's life.

The acting… I’m definitely a can of both Kim Sung Hyun and Nam Shi An now. Kim Sung Hyun did great with presenting both being rather cheeky and confident, and completely vulnerable with his feelings. Nam Shi An just… what an emotional journey we witnessed with the character he was presenting and how he slowly put away the positive mask and started to show more and more real emotions - that progression was perfect.

What’s more? The ost is just amazing. Silent goes straight to my playlist and I’m gonna play it on repeat for quite some time. Do It Over? Fun song perfect to start your day on a good note. I Will delivers great vocals and Isolation the best melancholic vibe.

Overall, I kind of want to rewatch it right away. It was sweet, fun and really entertaining. The characters were great and I would not mind either second season or a longer version (with the same cast, obviously).

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I’m here for pity fights and family drama.

Not many dramas can make a certified clown out of me, but this one did, and I kind of appreciate that. Countless rants in the first half, but at the end I became speechless - the twist did its thing.

What got me to start the show was the premise of the female spy assassins arc. What made me stay were the family drama and pity senseless fights when the focus should have been on the enemy. The dynamics between all the siblings were extremely entertaining to watch. While I still believe some of the motivations were… not the smartest, I don’t think it’s the case of characters being poorly written - it was intentional. Because the reasoning was flawed at times, it made the characters more relatable, even if the setting of the drama itself was something none of us could relate to.

Did I care about any of the romances? No. Funny, because that was also one of the things I actually wanted to watch this drama for. The puppy love was too puppy, the “toxic” romance did not get enough highlight to be well developed, the comedy crush was too much. Personally I would prefer if they switched the pairings around a bit - get the puppy with the cunning one, and the cold and heartless with the good natured one.

What the drama did perfectly though were all the visual aspects of the production - from set design, costumes, make up, accessories to the way it was all shot. The fighting scenes? Perfection. This is how you use slow motion to highlight the sequences and certain moves, instead of overusing it to hide bad choreography and lack of skills. Each fighting sequence deserves to be watched at least two or three times to fully appreciate it.

The acting was great. I was kind of traumatized by Yu Shu Xin in Love Between Fairy and Devil and her toddler character, and I’m glad to see how well she does in more mature roles. Personally, I think they fit her better. Zhang Ling He was fine. I do believe Gong Zi Yu’s character was the most boring, so I never truly focused so much on him… My favorite performance goes to Lu Yu Xiao - easy choice. Ad for Ryan Cheng, let’s say I get why everyone got so obsessed with him in that role.

On the bad side - I hated the line delivery of most of the main cast. Separately, they were great. The issue is: they all spoke with exactly the same whisper, slow mannerism, it became exhausting. Any dialogue heavy scenes between Yun Wei Shan and Shangguan Qian? Close your eyes and it’s impossible to tell which one is speaking - they sounded the same. I get it, they are all mysterious spies, but that does not mean they have to speak in the same way.

At the end of the day, it’s a great show. The middle part is the slowest and probably the reason why someone might drop it (I was close to dropping it too), but it picks up later when a lot of things get slowly revealed and explained.

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Too much and too little - a chaotic mess I cannot comprehend.

I am honestly still processing what I have seen. They gave me so much, maybe too much. But also so little about the important aspects…

Let’s start with what was supposed to be the core of the drama - the relationship between a hearing and deaf person and potential issues they might face. For me, there was a lot of virtue signaling, and not much actually substance. Even the opening scene was honestly laughable. He failed the job interview not because he is deaf, but because he literally sat there with big eyes confused, refusing to answer any question. Valid questions can I add? They honestly completely failed at showing he was discriminated against, because of his disability, because for me he just seemed incompetent, putting his disability completely aside. And it was a recurring theme - stating a real issue, giving a bad example of it.

Not to mention that literally one sentence about how gay relationships are still not accepted around the world, even if the progress was made, when the lgbtq rights and equality was not part of the plot nor conversation even once before the last episode.

There was a lot of work I had to put in to shut down my brain as I was watching, since many times they put feelings and vibes above logic and reasoning. Not Zi Xiang learning sign language in 2 business days… My guy was fluent in a week. Then we had so many random over the top plotlines thrown here and there - the sweet home Alabama vibes with the cousin, the mafia shenanigans, the playboy secretary that basically lives double life and his mentally teen playtoy. The fiancee showed up stirring some issues, but also hinting she might be hitting it off with Shao Peng’s bestie, who was also in love with Shao Peng. Why was there so much shit happening, but so little thought actually put into presenting even one plotline of that whole mess? I don’t even want to talk about how the drama literally concluded on “emotionally abusing someone can be a sign of love” as a way to give closure to a problematic relationship between Zi Xiang and his dad.

Was the relationship between Zi Xiang and Shao Peng adorable? Yes. And that’s what frustrates me the most. Why the fuck was the show not just that? Two people with their own internal and external struggles based on their disability and past traumas finding ways to communicate with each other as their feelings grow? How great of a drama it would be.

Truth to be told, the best thing about See Your Love were the performances. Jin Yun did so well, I actually had to check if he he deaf and potentially mute (and then I saw he is a singer, well then). The way he was able to communicate so much without using any spoken words was impressive.

While I cannot comment on how accurate the sign language was, it looked fluent - there was no awkwardness in the movements, it basically looked natural.

To conclude, you know what, good for deaf community. That's equality. Hearing or not hearing, we all deserve trash dramas that represent us. Chaotic mess of a fluff drama with over the top plot that makes no sense the more you think about it, but it’s also weirdly entertaining - yes, all communities deserve to have silly fun things like that.

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Started for the romance, stayed for the friendship.

When I start any BL, I am in for romance. I am not expecting an amazing plot, complex characters and any meaningful, well built relations between all the characters. So imagine my surprise, when half way through the show, I cared more about all the friendships, than the main romance.

Does it mean the romance was bad? No. For me, it was just really basic. It got me with “aww, that’s cute” a few times, but overall, I was not that invested. Maybe because there were no real stakes, and all the problems and conflicts were similar to each other, but I barely felt anything.

On the other hand, I adored every scene between Aoki and Hashimoto. I wish the focus of the show was on them building their friendship that started from a misunderstanding, and the romance was more of a side plot. Watching them support each other was delightful. That duo is probably the best thing that happened in BLs in a long time.

I even cared more about Hashimoto and Aida more than the main couple, thanks to Hashimoto’s bubbly, but also brave personality, which made their scenes that much more interesting.

The cast did an amazing job portraying the characters. Michieda Shunsuke aced the over the top, but still somehow realistic reactions Aoki had. Meguro Ren portrayed the gradual change in Ida’s feelings, and initial unsureness in an excellent manner. Fukumoto Riko made Hashimoto the fun real life version of “looks like cinnamon roll, is a cinnamon roll, but could still kill you” character and Suzuki Jin made Aida fun, even if at times frustrating character to watch.

Overall, it was a fun watch. I do believe it would be more entertaining as a binge watch type of deal, since it did not have the plot that made me anticipate each new episode every week. It’s just a fun, cute high school romance that will make you feel happy, but might not amaze you.

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Nothing Happens, Vibes Occur - Sponsored by Photovoltaic Panels.

Nothing happens, but it’s still somehow interesting. That's a long story short of how I would describe the drama. It just flows in an even pace filled with either fun, lovely and heartwarming interactions, or rage inducing ones. But the plot is barely there. It’s mostly about characters and their interactions - vibes fueled. And the characters were not even that outstanding.

Starting with our male lead - Lin Yu Sen who was so perfect it was kind of boring. I am extremely grateful for that initial light pity party he was having and a tiny bit of mischievousness from him towards the female lead. That said, I don’t really have issues with him having less presence than the female lead. For me no matter the drama, one of the leads will always be more of the focus. I just wish he was a bit more than a supportive boyfriend. Even his own personal struggles seemed more like a way of showing how inspiring and encouraging Xi Guang is. Uplift women in dramas, yes. But you don't have to leave men behind.

Nie Xi Guang on the other hand was actually a well written female lead with solid, but realistic character development focused on finding her own path, drive and goal in life. She slowly learned how to stand up for herself and speak honestly about her grievances - she was never a doormat, but she for sure gained more sass with every episode. As for the flaws - questionable taste in men at least in her younger age. I do think she was a bit too old for this level of fascination over the second male lead and how long it took her to move on. Especially taking into consideration how he treated her.

And here comes the cherry on top of the dama: Zhuang Xu, so annoying he became my favorite character. Yes, I hated him to the core, but at the same time when they kept him hidden for a few episodes I missed him. Mr. Audacity Wood stole the show for me and both the external conflict/misunderstanding and his internal issues were the most interesting aspects of the plot. Honestly though - where did the audacity come from? So little self confidence, so much self-doubt and victim complex, yet the audacity unmatched by the rich cold CEOs.

For more supporting characters we had the initial friend group which was rather basic. We did manage to get one amazing scene showing that at least one of the girls was truly Xi Guang’s friend, but overall they were there to fill the shots.

Work colleagues were better personality wise, but even they slowly vanished and lost their individuality. This drama never had friendship in its focus and that’s slightly sad. Out of all the relationships outside of the leads, one that was the best developed and shined the brightest was Xi Guang and her little brother.

We also got the standard family drama. On Yu Sen side the “competent male lead versus incompetent rest of the family” shenanigans. Glad it never developed into anything more than a side story that made a comeback every few episodes for a few minutes. On the female lead side we had the dad with too much unfounded pride and his evil (and also incompetent) girlfriend with a daughter (who was also incompetent - as you can see everyone, but the leads and the people they liked were incompetent).

How was the romance? Nice. And take it as a compliment. There was no ridiculous drama and angst between the main couple and even the initial misunderstanding did not lead to outrageous twists. Their whole relationship was based on both great communication and the underlying conflict based on misconception/misunderstanding - and it did make sense, somehow. There weren’t any massive ups and downs - this is for sure not a rollercoaster of emotions. More like a nice walk along the riverside accompanied by rustling trees, singing birds and the newest, most advanced, best in the world, innovative, groundbreaking and saving global climate Chinese photovoltaic panels.

So yeah, let’s all agree this drama is as much of a cute romance as it is an ad for a specific branch of the Chinese market (and just a tiny reminder that China also excels in neuroscience, in case anyone forgot). Maybe 20% of the business related scenes actually had an impact on the leads and their development in terms of their character and career, the rest was just long ass explanation how amazing PVs are, how China is going to be pioneers in that market, how it all works and what kind of profits and benefits it has. An ad. I skipped all these scenes and I’m not even sorry.

As for the production, I am convinced from episode 23 they changed people involved in filming and editing the show - the improvement of the quality was so obvious. The first 22 episodes were rather empty, simple and lacked depth and definition. From episode 23 be it use of light, framing scenes with forefront blurred objects, colors - everything was so much better, richer.

For the acting I mostly want to talk about Zhao Jin Mai since she stood out amongst her co-stars. The way you could feel everything Xi Guang was feeling. My favorite scenes were for sure the few confrontations she had with people in her life and how she firmly stood her ground, simply because there were so many emotions behind what she was saying. These were not just a “girlboss” badass moment. You could also feel all the disappointment, frustration, resignation, sadness and frustration. These scenes on one had made you proud of her, but also sad for how long she was keeping it all in not allowing herself to truly express her feelings.

Song Wei Long was fine. I guess that's a compliment. I feel like his acting is really reactionary - he acts on cue without being immersed in the character he is portraying.

Then we have Lai Wei Ming. I have no idea why he was so all over the place, since I know he can do better, but I lived for the sick pathetic vibe he gave me. It just added to the frustration and rage I was feeling when he was on screen. No idea what kind of tips the director gave him, but it did not work, but at the same time somehow worked. And that styling - dude looks like he was one foot in the grave the whole show. They did him dirty.

Overall, I feel like this is a drama you can enjoy in two cases: you truly adore the “nothing much happening, all we have are vibes, but these are good vibes” dramas, or when you are in a specific mood for a slow pace sweet romance with just enough plot to make you stay till the end.

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Ever changing layers of happiness and sadness, pain and survival.

I went into this drama with a lot of trust and hope. Hwang Jin Young amazed me once with Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People, and I was ready to be amazed again - and she did not disappoint.

Set around the year 1636 during the Qing invasion of Joseon, the story centers around the themes of social structures and expectations put on different social classes, inequality of genders, women solidarity, the role of the royal family, all mixed with a beautiful, well paced romance that keeps breaking your heart and mending it back together - the sweetness and the angst perfectly balanced.

The story opens with what one could describe as open ended closure - showing us the future, but just a direction of where it all went, vague frame of the characters’ fates, while leaving enough uncertainty to keep you curious and striving to make your own interpretations and theories.

The core of the show are its characters. Yoo Gil Chae is exactly what I always wanted to see from a strong female lead - realistic depiction of pure survival based on wits and determination instead of unrealistic superhero like skills. She is introduced as a naive, egocentric and slightly delusional young woman, who thinks the whole world centers around her. Her bold attitude and cunning nature is truly refreshing, even if at times cheesy.

As the drama progresses, she shows an enormous amount of emotional strength and wits. The same cunning nature she used to seduce men, she then used to keep others alive. Even though her whole behavior and demeanor changes in a matter of days, it feels organic, believable and right - all the development happens on top of already existing traits she had.

And then we have Lee Jang Hyun introduced as a resourceful casanova dressed in a veil of mystery, surprising everyone with his skills, insightful understanding of politics and unconventional takes on matters of loyalty, patriotism, marriage and love. A man who seems too perfect to ever exist. A man who can make viewers' hearts flutter with sweet teasing and playful flirting, but also sincere confessions and yearning gazes he gives Gil Chae. A man who is willing to try to stop the war for the woman he cherishes.

Compared to Gil Chae and Jang Hyun, who present this opposition to accepted social norms and values, we have Nam Yeon Jun and Kyung Eun Ae, whom I would describe as prisoners of their upbringing and expectations put on them.

Yeon Jun, the loyal subject with an idealistic idea of protecting the royal family when needed. Eun Ae, the perfect pure woman who protects her chastity. His worth lies in his devotion to the king, her worth lies in her purity that should be given only to her husband. Both characters were truly sad to watch and fascinating to analyze.

What more has the drama to offer? First of all, the amazing, and at times painful to watch social commentary, often presented in the format of contrasting scenes intertwined with each other. Patriotic moments put against complete defeat, happy celebration in contrast to upcoming invaders, inconvenience of the royal family opposed to dying subjects. Sometimes just seconds, passing moments that stay with you long after you finish watching.

What adds to the gripping storytelling is the more realistic depiction of war and how gruesome it can truly be for commoners. All the scenes of the invaders attacking villages, killing all the men, the horrifying fate of the women, struggles of the slaves and pain of the ones thought to be the enemies of the Qing. People trying to survive, people trying to get back to normal, even if the peace was not fully obtained.

Everything created ever changing layers of happiness and sadness, pain and survival. How the tragedy hits us harder thanks to the happiness we previously witnessed, and how we appreciate the joyful moments, remembering the pain the characters went through.

All that emotional impact was possible thanks to the phenomenal performances from the cast. While watching Namgoong Min in this drama, I accepted that I will stay single for the rest of my life. My standards in men reached unobtainable levels all thanks to his portrayal of Jang Hyun. You wish to be in mortal danger so he can save you, while also making you want to protect him. The perfect balance of confidence and vulnerability, playful nature and sincere love, bravery against the enemy and the fear of losing people he cares about.

Ahn Eun Jin was the perfect choice for Yoo Gil Chae. An actress skilled enough to present the pure innocence, cunning nature and mature strength in a way that it never felt contradictory. I ended up adoring the character’s little schemes, feeling the pain she was feeling and rooting for her with all my heart in times of hardships and danger.

Lee Hak Joo and Lee Da In had an extremely hard job of presenting characters whose usually praised traits became their flaws. A delivery that at times makes you feel a whole ra(n)ge of emotions. Love them or hate them, but you for sure will not be indifferent.

From the production standpoint, I cannot describe how happy I was with the styling of the characters during the turbulent times. The raw perfection of the imperfections. No porcelain like white skin. The blemishes, imperfections, dirt and sweat - all adding to the realism of the story.

And then we have the touching soundtrack. Only With Heart full of feelings of hope, the innocence of pure love hidden in Road To You, The Painted On The Moonlight filled with longing and the desperation in Unforgettable Love.

Realistically speaking, words cannot describe how much I love this drama. It took complete possession of my brain, heart and soul. It gives you sweet moments that will make you grin from ear to ear and scream into the pillow. It breaks your heart times and times again, and yet you will feel grateful for every tear it made you shed. It introduces uncomfortable topics and scenarios that will make you contemplate your own beliefs and ideas. It served me everything and I could not ask for more.

Is the show flawless? No show is. But if you ask me to name any flaws, I would struggle, because all the tiny issues I might have had seem so miniscule and insignificant it would truly feel like looking for something to criticize just for the sake of finding any negativity. One thing that bothered me slightly in the later episodes: there were some unclear time passage issues, the contextual hints of how much time passed were not always clear and it affected the understanding of the characters, their motivations and emotions. It was not extremely hard to figure out, but it did require a bit more analysis and thinking.

(Some additional analysis and thoughts about the ending of part 1 in comment below under spoiler).

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Delivered the sweet, failed with angst.

I liked it, but I did not love it. It was so close to being so good, it makes me feel more disappointed. It gave us so much to appreciate - good chemistry between the leads, THE height difference, interesting set up for the plot and future conflict, decent acting… but then it kind of did not deliver on any of these.

Was the chemistry good? Yes. And if it was not for the supporting couple, I would probably even say it was great. But these few moments we’ve got from Ju Ha and Kyu Sung felt so natural I could not see the main couple in the same light. Good example: both couples had that “one person leaning on the other when they are sitting, semi backhug position” - Ju Ha and Kyu Sung felt like couple, Si Yeol and Ae Jun felt like actors who are playing the couple and are ready to get back to normal sitting position right when they hear “cut”.

Still, the interactions felt mostly natural. I loved how Si Yeol was confidently flirting and how confused, but also happy Ae Jun was about it (living his best delulu life).

Then we had the height difference straight from the webtoon, so big my neck hurt just watching Ae Jun look at Si Yeol. So my question is… why wasn’t it used? Like, ever? There are so many perfect (cliche) moments and scenes that many viewers love, and we’ve got none.

Even the set up was great - scheming idol and a dishonest fan. One would be enough for a great conflict and angst to follow, but these two? What an amazing combination. So where is the angst? The way I almost felt nothing when all the tea started to spill. The way things were set up to be future conflicts ended up as nothing, but a few seconds scenes.

I do believe the issue here was the acting from Kim Kang Min. His performance was fine, but the moment the plot leads more into heavy themes, he just did not deliver. Which was even more evident when he shared the screen with Park Jin Woo who actually aced the sadness and anger.

Production value was good. One of the issues I often have with dramas about idols is how unrealistic the details of their work are (e.g. awards ceremonies in small rooms with barely any people). Here he did feel like a real idol - from merch, songs, interviews, stages, radio interviews. The school also felt like a school, the classroom had students that acted like students. The environment was crafted in a way that made the story feel more real.

Overall, it was almost there. A few changes in the last 3 episodes and we could have gotten a solid show.

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We need to learn how to listen, not just hear.

What a great surprise this show was. Not gonna lie, I am a bit tired of the “child/teen/young people with a variety of issues/illnesses/disorders/etc being taken care of by irresponsible new guardians just so the guardian can have pretty character development” - these stories simply often feel exploitative. Using one main character just to give another change of heart does not sit well with me. How happy can I be when this show is not that. Cho Sang Gu is not this extremely selfish asshole, Han Geu Roo does not get mistreated, it's just two people who slowly learn how to cooperate and live with each other.

What the drama excelled at was telling different stories related to death, grief, regret, fear, abandonment, reflection on the past and what it means for the future. The separate cases presented in each episode were amazing and tackled a true variety of situations: lack of protection for people with disabilities, abandonment of elderly parents with cognitive issues, stalking and the psychological effects it might have on the victim, lgbtq, self-inflicted euthanasia, bullying, guardianship, searching for your own place and your family. Only 10 episodes, yet so many touching stories.

At the same time, I did feel like the main characters were rather stagnant. I did like all of them, especially Han Geu Roo, but it’s also the fact that the development that happened to some of them was really subtle, so subtle one could argue they started and ended up on the same note. The story was mostly about things that happened to them and around them, and not within them. And the few things that did lead to certain reflections were mostly opening and closing acts, and were not that impactful to everything in the middle (Geu Roo dealing with loss and Sang Gu finding out the truth and accepting his new family).

One thing I especially appreciated was the fact Geu Roo’s ASD never felt like the center of the story. It was not a story of an autistic young man learning how to deal with loss, it was a story of Geu Roo dealing with loss and learning how to live with all the changes happening around him. I don’t know how to explain it, but the presentation was just more sensible? His character was not just ASD, he was fun, and determined, curious, caring, striving to improve, respectable and responsible. It was not a story about Geu Roo having ASD, it just happened that Geu Roo who was the main character also had ASD. While it was obviously an integral part of the story, it never felt overwhelming.

Performance wise - amazing. I don’t think anyone would argue that Tang Jun Sang as Geu Roo was the start of the show. I can only imagine how much research he must have done to deliver such a believable and emotionally rich performance. Lee Je Hoon is always great, but I am a bit tired of him playing quite similar characters lately. Great performance, but I feel like I already saw it. I have nothing to complain about Hong Seung Hee as Yoo Na Mu, but since her character was the least developed, there is not that much to praise. I am impressed with the long list of amazing actors who participated in the production just for the guest roles. I can see that many people with experience valued what the show is and wanted to be a part of it.

I barely ever have anything to say about the production value in Korean dramas because they usually have similar standards. It’s high, but not memorable. Everything works perfectly, but nothing truly stands out. Here I had a similar issue. One thing I did enjoy was the way they visually presented Geu Roo’s analytical mind and how he connected the information he acquired.

Overall, an amazing show with great stories. I did think it was just slightly too positive in separate cases - wish we had seen some leaning more towards “failure” and see how the characters react to it.

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Everyone needs a break from responsibilities.

A cute and well paced romance between actor Shibuya Taikai and kindergarten teacher Aota Aika, focused on finding happiness.

This drama is pure sweetness sprinkled with good old misunderstandings and noble idiocy. Far less infuriating than other titles with similar tropes, sadly it does make you roll your eyes with some of the plot progression.

Shibuya Taikai, even though a popular actor, is an awkward, focused on his family man who seeks little interactions with other people. Taking the role of the head of the family and to some extent a parenting role for his sister. And then he meets Aota Aika and slowly, but surely she puts a smile on his face and makes him want more from his life than just dealing with responsibilities the best he can.

What I found a bit disappointing is how we can truly see the depth of internal struggles Shibuya Taikai is facing only close to the end of the drama. One specific scene makes you understand all the previous choices that he made, but it feels a little too late.

What’s more, I actually have little to nothing to say about Aota Aika. She was cute and fun, but I don’t think she was interesting as an individual character.

The acting was great. Kyomoto Taiga presents a whole variety of different roles playing as Shibuya Taikai. The highlight of his performance was the crying scenes. He did master them, they were both heartbreaking and beautiful, because they were never exaggerated. Just well timed tears - all the expressions kept in the eyes alone.

Overall, a fun watch, probably better as a binge. Could have been a bit shorter, removing some layers of miscommunication.

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The best as the support.

I honestly fail to understand how the weakest of the actors and the most basic of the plot were picked to lead the show, instead of showcasing a great, but uncomfortable to witness story of the supporting couple… make it make sense.

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy Tae Yi and Se Heon, but I also could not stop myself from feeling like it’s basically The Eighth Sense 2.0 with no improvement that would validate its existence in my eyes. Their story was unnecessarily complicated and too simplistically presented.

On the other hand, even though with criminally little screen time, I totally bought everything going on between Do Yoon and Joo Ha and if given more chance and focus, this could have been quite a refreshing concept to see in BL.

I’d love a story of how the one that protected becomes a bully and how it creates conflicted feelings in the leads. How it would be hard for Do Yoon to forget the warmth he felt when he first met Joo Ha - the hope that what he first saw is still in him. The internal conflict - for how long and how much he should put up with to keep that hope alive? When to give up?

How one magic kiss does not cure your internalized homophobia. I loved the locker scene. I loved how Seo Do Yoon said: I won't confess nor kiss you, let's just stay like that in a hug for a little bit. And that was as much as Joo Ha was conformable with at the moment, and it was fine. Relationships are almost never 50/50 all the time. There are times when one gives 80 and the other 20, and then other times when one gives 30 and the other 70. And I think they could have had something real good with this side couple. Would it be uncomfortable to watch? For sure, but some of the best stories are the ones that make you face some unpleasant feelings.

What’s more? Realistically speaking, Tae Yi was far more violent towards Se Heon, but somehow people don’;t really have as much issue with him. Poor boy was slammed across various surfaces quite a number of times.

Acting wise… it had its ups and downs. Ji Ho Geun and Kim Jin Kwon did great with lighter scenes, but the more emotional ones did not really reach me. Song Han Gyeom aced everything. It’s a fact. Kim Jung Ha surprised me with the more vulnerable scenes, especially since most of what the character presented was being a douche.

Visually speaking it was good. Each year we can clearly see improvement in the quality of production, filing and editing in Korean bls.

Overall, perfect for a binge watch, but made me crave a full story of the side couple and I will be forever salty if I won’t get it.

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Oversaturated plot with underdeveloped relationships.

I’m quite conflicted about how I feel right now. Honestly speaking, the things that made me curious were not explored enough or did not happen at all. The few elements I loved were just a part of the overall messy plot that tried to include too many side characters and stories.

What I enjoyed? Exploration of motherhood presented through Yu Ri, Min Jung and Eun Sook. What does it mean to be a mother? How much is a mother willing to sacrifice for her child? What makes a mother - giving birth to a child or having a bond with them? The show presented in a beautiful way the connection that moms have with their kids. That was the true heart of the show.

Going against the stereotypical depictions - in this case: stepmothers. I’m a sucker for fresh takes on the overused themes. We have seen enough evil stepmothers in the media, it’s amazing to see good examples once in a while.

The few scenes of sismance and female friendship and Oh Min Jung’s character. Min Jung was simply the best and most interesting part of the whole show, with real stakes and proper conflicts - both internal and external. Somehow, her journey was more heartbreaking, but also motivating and uplifting than anything the female lead presented.

Lee Kyu Hyung - he is an acting monster. What a performance he delivered. I rewatched quite a few of his scenes. He aced both the subtle and the exaggerated. I am even tempted to say, this was his strongest performance I have ever seen.

What I disliked or was disappointed about? My biggest issue was the dynamic between Yu Ri, Kang Hwa and Min Jung - or rather the fact they kept telling me what these characters feel for each other, but it was never really presented so I did not believe a word they said. You can tell me even a hundred times how much Kang Hwa loves Min Jung, but if you don’t actually show it, I see it as a big, fat lie. For me, the emotional connections were poorly presented and explained. I might understand what the writer and director wanted to depict, but it was not actually there in the final product.

Cha Yu Ri - both with how the character was written and portrayed. Is it me, or is Kim Tae Hee getting worse in acting with each new project? I did not buy the majority of her scenes. There was something really… fake about her delivery. The character itself also offered little to nothing. It’s the first time when I felt like the main character is nothing more, but a plot device…

Too many useless characters - wasted screen time. Did we need so many ghosts and their stories? No. At the end of the day, they were there to present the regret and the longing for life. Not to mention the new exorcist by the end that served exactly zero purpose. The same plot could have been told with the use of the already established characters.

The production was good. Your typical mainstream kdrama. They tried to solve a lot of storytelling problems with flashbacks and compilations of scenes, and while they looked nice, they also made the plot feel more empty, as nothing was truly established.

Overall, a decent watch, but not something I would recommend.

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